


The Tiamat Seven

by ArtemisTheHuntress



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Alternate History, Backstory, Backstory Episodes, Backstory for everyone!, Canon Compliant, Gen, Labor Unions, Screenplay/Script Format, The 1970s, Tiamat Crew, USS Tiamat, Worldbuilding, discussion of suicide, somehow labor rights became a recurring theme because that's what's on my mind right now
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:26:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27038668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtemisTheHuntress/pseuds/ArtemisTheHuntress
Summary: Decades before the USSHephaestus, there was the USSTiamat.  And before they ran into the Theta scenario that changed the world forever, their crew were real people, too.Or, backstory episodes akin to the season 3 minisodes, but for theTiamatcrew.--Including:"ANY DAY NOW" -- Elizabeth Zhang gives an update on her project's progress."PHANTOM" -- Lt. Liam Oswin gets caught in a lie."PERSPECTIVE" -- Dr. Lawrence Gillan deals with some uncooperative patients."FLUID MECHANICS IN GRAVITY" -- Anthony Tate returns from space."OFFICE HOURS" -- Dr. Eddie Smith considers his options."BLACKLISTED" -- Monique Grayson loses her job."PRODUCTIVE WORK" -- Dr. Violet Clark asks for a favor.
Comments: 23
Kudos: 12





	1. Any Day Now

**Author's Note:**

> I have been accidentally deeply fixating on the _Tiamat_ crew recently. So for OC-tober I thought I'd explore them more and give these canon OCs personalities, relationships, and backstory.
> 
> Someday I may write the epic longfic space horror of the _Tiamat_ mission... but for now, I need to set the stage.
> 
> Many thanks to [deliverusfromsburb](https://archiveofourown.org/users/deliverusfromsburb/pseuds/deliverusfromsburb) for advice with the screenplay formatting!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elizabeth Zhang gives an update on her project's progress.

Cape Canaveral, 1974.

EXT. – A CAFÉ PATIO – MIDDAY

The soft sounds of the beach: waves, seagulls, voices in the distance. ELIZABETH ZHANG, age 33, and COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR ARTHUR KELLER sit at a café table. Zhang holds a cup of black tea; Keller holds a mug of chai. They are a few blocks from Goddard’s Cape Canaveral HQ, and from here, you might almost think it was just a nice, bustling beach town, and not only-just-off-campus from the most powerful company in the world.

KELLER

Sometimes it’s nice to get out in the sunshine, isn’t it? You’ve been working very hard on the Dingir project. But no point in looking to the skies in the lab if you can’t see the real sky sometimes, is there?

ZHANG

That’s... very thoughtful of you, sir.

KELLER

I want to make sure my employees are having a good time here. We’re a modern workplace with modern ideas! Regular relaxation refreshes the mind and makes for a sharper, more productive worker. And more alert, and with better reflexes, which will continue to be especially important if we make Extreme Thursdays a regular event. Which I’m leaning towards! The last one was quite a thrill, wasn’t it?

ZHANG

It... was. So I hear. I was busy for most of it, making sure all the stress-tests on the Dingir-class ships’ exterior skins checked out. I had Holst on.

(slightly embarrassed)

You know, The Planets. It’s been my unofficial work-album for this project. It’s inspiring. I like to have some familiar background music on while I’m doing paperwork, or analysis, or the kinds of calculations that this phase of spaceship construction is constantly calling for. It’s great that we’re into the home stretch and all of the engineers’ calculations are holding up as expected, but it’s a delicate stage and we need to be absolutely sure that everything works together in reality as the projections say they should. But it means a lot of office work and a lot of probability calculations. And when I’m re-calculating the torsion potential of the outer plating, it can be so easy to get mired in the numbers, so what’s a better reminder of what this all about, in the end, than The Planets? But I didn’t even hear most of the... excitement, or the screaming, until the day was nearly over.

KELLER

Such a dedicated work ethic!

ZHANG

Thank you, sir.

KELLER

You jumped from applied-physics contractor to project manager with impressive alacrity, Elizabeth. And skill! You slid right into the role and you’ve been doing a wonderful job. You’ll take over the whole company within the decade, at this rate!

ZHANG

I... uh, thank you, Mr. Keller. It’s been an amazing project to work on, let alone direct.

KELLER

You’re nearing the end, aren’t you? How is it coming along?

ZHANG

In the last few weeks, flawlessly. We haven’t had any significant setbacks in more than a month, and we’ve worked out the fuel cargo problem, which means the sublight engines have the eight light-year range you wanted. More; I’m confident they could go to ten and back comfortably with the new solar-sail array, with enough of the cargo load reorganized for fuel-carrying that getting to other star systems and getting back within a fourteen-month time frame will be entirely possible.

KELLER

You’re sure?

ZHANG

I haven’t been this excited for a project in... well, ever. By the time anything lands on Mission Director Richardson’s desk, I’ve checked and checked and checked again, to be confident I haven’t overlooked anything in my enthusiasm to see these ships off the ground. And I haven’t. I’m sure.

KELLER

Think we’ll be on schedule to launch in the first quarter of next year?

ZHANG

Well, I can’t say for--

(She walks it back at Keller’s expectant look.)

I’m sure we will, sir. If it keeps going as smoothly as it is now.

KELLER

It’s a very impressive project. And you’re very thorough.

ZHANG

(pleased with herself; she knows)

I know, sir.

KELLER

You may be the world’s ranking expert in the on-the-ground practicalities of deep-space travel soon enough.

ZHANG

The practicalities of what it takes to get to space and stay there. I’m only missing the experience actually being out there myself.

KELLER

Never left the planet?

ZHANG

Never had the reason to. I’ve never actually worked with NASA, so I’ve never been to the space station; I’m a contractor, not military myself, so I’ve never had reason to go to the moon base; and... well, asteroid mining, that’s not really something you end up in by choice. But that’s the thrill of the Dingir project, isn’t it? Besides launching out past the confines of our own solar system, we’re opening up space so there will be so many more reasons to go.

KELLER

The stars will be ours, any day now.

He pauses, to stare off into the distance and smile brightly over the ocean horizon.

KELLER

The stars can be yours first, though.

ZHANG

That’s the dream.

KELLER

No, I mean it. You’ve proven yourself an effective leader, and you know the project goals and the ships’ capabilities better than anyone. Better than me, almost! Going to lose this company to you, if this keeps up!

He says it with a laugh and a teasing smile, like it’s a joke. It’s not clear if it’s a joke.

KELLER

You’d be wasted politicking around down here, stuck in HQ forever. You should see the stars you’re working so hard to take us to, Elizabeth.

ZHANG

Mr. Keller?

KELLER

How would you like to command one of the Dingir ships on her maiden voyage? How is the Tiamat looking?

ZHANG

I--

She’s taken aback, but she starts to smile, huge, delighted.

ZHANG

I would love that.

KELLER

You’re among the best, and we only want to send the best.

ZHANG

I’d have to--train as an astronaut, of course, and make arrangements. Fourteen months--there’s my apartment, my cat--but. Oh, wow. Yes.

KELLER

You have time.

(Playfully, a boss who thinks he’s funnier than he is,)

But don’t put off the project for it!

ZHANG

First quarter. 1975. I’ll be ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mr. Cutter/Carter/Keller/whoever he's being keeps tight control over upwards mobility at this company. Someone look a little too promising when you didn't intend them to? Shoot them into space for a while! That'll restore balance.


	2. Phantom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lt. Liam Oswin gets caught in a lie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW for discussion of war and past suicide attempt.

Cape Canaveral, 1974.

INT. – MR. KELLER’S OFFICE, GODDARD FUTURISTICS HEADQUARTERS, CAPE CANAVERAL – DAY

MR. KELLER sits at his desk, looking politely and pleasantly interested. LIEUTENANT LIAM OSWIN, age 29, sits in the chair opposite him, across the desk. He tries to look confident with an easy smile and his legs stretched out in front of him and crossed at the ankles, but a tension in his shoulders tells us that he’s not nearly as comfortable here as he wants to come off.

KELLER 

Do you know why you’re here, Liam?

OSWIN 

(leaning back in his chair) 

To interview for a job. 

(beat) 

... right? I submitted an application for the space-pilot position, and you called me in for a job interview. 

(beat) 

Or are you asking me to show my commitment to the Goddard family. Your secretary, Ruth?--she says you want Goddard to be like a big family. I can roll with that. That’s what companies all want to be in the groovy modern era, don't they? 

(beat. KELLER continues to look at him, fingers stapled, waiting pleasantly, in expectant silence.) 

I am in the right place for the job interview, right? 

KELLER 

You are. But your application was, to put it in the most friendly and honest terms, terrible. Would you like some tea? 

OSWIN 

Uh--coffee? 

KELLER 

Tea. I recommend chai. 

OSWIN 

Sure. I’ll have what you’re having. And I thought my application was pretty good. I can fly anything. I have all the right skills. And the right mindset. 

KELLER 

You also have an other-than-honorable discharge on your record. 

OSWIN 

Ah. 

KELLER 

Come on now, Liam, did you really think we wouldn’t find out about that? 

OSWIN 

Thought you... might not care about that. Seeing as you’re private sector, and I’m trying to stay out of your hair anyway. And seeing as I have all the skills you want. I’m a pilot. I love to fly, and I’m damn good at it. Nowhere I’d want to be more than in the cockpit of a long-haul deep-space flight out into the edges of known space, for a year and a half. Explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations, yeah, I’m here for all that. Probably not a lot of applicants with the intersection of that desire and that skillset. 

KELLER 

Hm! You sound confident, for a man who’s applying for a job as a pilot, who flew his last plane into the ground. That tends to put a damper on your job prospects, you know. I can’t imagine anywhere will hire you with a record like that. 

OSWIN

... that was only once, Mr. Keller. It won’t happen again. 

KELLER 

To answer my own question, Liam, because you didn’t: you’re here because you interest me. You have a stellar resume--Air Force pilot, impressive dogfighter, even have some of your squadronmates on record saying you could've been a flying ace. Air-to-air combat veteran in Vietnam, flying air support in multiple ground missions and some of the... less embarrassing evacuations. You were a hero, Lieutenant. 

(beat) 

And then, in quite the turnaround, you flew your F-4 Phantom straight into the ground and got yourself discharged. 

OSWIN

(quietly) 

Yeah. That’s what happened. 

KELLER 

You spent nearly a whole year recuperating in a field hospital and then a military one, another year applying to multiple flight-related positions and getting briskly turned down for all of them, haven’t talked to any friends or family at all in that time, and now you’re here with a cover letter that looks like this. One sentence. “I want to get out of here.” 

(beat) 

I thought to myself, is this a man who’s just never written a cover letter before, or is it a ploy to get my attention? Well, I have to say, you subtle dog, it worked! You got my attention. I wanted to talk to you! And, specifically, I wanted to ask why you think you can get a job as a pilot here, and how you expect Goddard Futuristics to trust you not to fly our state-of-the-art aerospace craft into the ground, too. 

OSWIN 

If you know about the discharge, sir, you know that my flight record is impeccable and that last part... well. That it wasn’t an accident. 

KELLER 

Yes. Your discharge papers make that astoundingly clear. So I’d like to hear from you, Liam: you attempted suicide-by-airplane two years ago. So why are you here? 

OSWIN 

... 

(sigh) 

Because I love to fly and it’s the only thing I think I can love anymore. I wouldn’t... I wouldn’t put a crew in danger. It was just me in that plane. Just me and the Phantom... you been to Vietnam, Mr. Keller? 

KELLER 

Can’t say I have recently, no. 

OSWIN 

I’m sure it used to be a lovely place to visit. Maybe can be again someday, who knows. But. You don’t want to be there like this. 

Yeah, I was a great pilot. Always wanted to be since I was a kid, launching toy airplanes off the roof and watching them go till they nose-dived into the street. Joined up with the Air Force when I was young and stupid, because, well, they were talking about the draft and I figured I wanted to be a pilot, might as well get the jump on that and choose to go into the Air Force so I knew where I’d be serving, yeah? I was first year into college already anyway, joined the Air Force ROTC, came out the other side an officer. Got to fly. Was good at it. 

Then they sent us to the war and... well. I'd been in college, surrounded by the intellectuals and hippie-types and activists, but us ROTC guys never really hung out with them, you know? Felt angry at them, mostly, for being aggressive and unpatriotic and against the war. Like I said: I was young and stupid then. Cause then we got to the front and... it’s not patriotic. It’s not heroic. It’s just awful. The air battles were supposed to be dramatic, supposed to be clean and decisive, but mostly they were just... watching your buddies get shot down all around you ‘cause you were lied to about the VC’s air strength. It was about knowing they were doing Earth Day back home, save the rainforests, while you’re here dropping napalm on these beautiful rainforests and turning them to char. It’s knowing that for every five guys who fly out, one or two of ‘em won’t make it back, and that just is how it is. We used to lie, you know. Say they got taken out by surface-to-air missiles, ‘cause no one wanted to admit that we were getting shot down in the air. But it was happening every day. You probably know, don’t you? Goddard was making a lot of the airplanes. I did one run of the low-earth-orbit fighting early on, back when we thought that mattered, and being on the edge of space was freeing, because you could almost pretend you weren’t connected to what was going on below. But then the ground ops became more and more prevalent and it was obvious this wasn’t any heroic WWII edge-of-space Nazi-dogfighting like we grew up with stories about, it was just... murder, in the jungle, relentlessly. We got dragged down to earth, strafing the tops of the trees. It was barely flying at all. 

(laughs hollowly) 

And even as it dragged on I felt like I didn’t even deserve to be feeling as awful as I was, you know? I wasn’t one of the ground guys, I wasn’t dying in the mud. Which made everything feel worse. Everything made everything worse, and you weren’t supposed to talk about it. So when it became obvious everything was going to shit--uh, pardon my language, sir--and I started flying support for the evacuations, that was the best damn thing I ever did, getting people out of there. But it wasn’t over, and they just kept sending new people in, and... 

He shrugs, clearly extremely uncomfortable. 

OSWIN 

Didn’t see a way out, didn’t see how any of this was ever going to end, and I just... tried to get out my own way. Coward’s way out of the war, at least. They didn’t seem to care that it was suicide attempt, even, not really. They got mad at me for--it’s there on the papers-- 

KELLER 

“Theft and reckless destruction of Air Force property.” 

OSWIN 

Yeah. Good ol’ Uncle Sam doesn’t care if you try to destroy yourself, people are cheap, but an airplane? That’s expensive equipment. So now I’m back stateside with a lot of specialized skills that no one will hire me for and a VA man who tells me I need to see a shrink but won’t give me any money to do so. So, why am I here, Mr. Keller? I’m here because I didn’t manage to die and I ended up realizing, I don't think I wanted to die so much as to get out. And this opportunity will let me do the one thing I love while getting as far out as I can, which I think will be the best thing I can do for myself to get better. Get away from myself for a while. And offer you the best pilot you’re going to get while the war’s still on. 

KELLER 

Compelling! But we don’t just fling our pilots into space. We do like them to come back sometimes. 

OSWIN 

I can handle any craft, sir, and I do not crash unless I mean to. And I won’t mean to, out there in outer space. 

KELLER 

You’ll have a hard time convincing the average hiring manager of that. 

OSWIN 

Yeah. I know. 

KELLER 

Lucky for you that I’ve never been average! 

He stands up and reaches over to shake Oswin’s hand. 

OSWIN 

... sir? 

KELLER 

We have a deep-space exploratory mission heading out... oh, in two months or so. Mapping the stars and the exoplanets in our local Solar neighborhood for their raw-material potential. It’s the most ambitious mission yet--and I need a pilot with ambitions to match. 

OSWIN 

Uh. Wait, weren’t you just-- 

KELLER 

Liam. You’re entirely right, you’re never going to get a job as a pilot anywhere else, so from what you’re telling me, you have two options: stay grounded forever, or leap to the stars with us. And, I know I’m biased, but it would be a shame to waste your talent. 

Oswin stares. Then, realizing what he’s hearing, 

OSWIN 

You... want to hire me? 

KELLER 

Let’s just say you’re exactly the kind of person we’re looking for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My Metal Gear roots are showing, can you tell?
> 
> Reading back what I wrote like god, Oswin, you need some friends and/or a therapist so you don't just dump this on the first person who asks.
> 
> Also it is imperative to the understanding of Oswin's character to know that he has the MOST embarrassing '70s mustache. Like, just the worst.


	3. Perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Lawrence Gillan deals with some uncooperative patients.

Somewhere outside the Oort Cloud, 1975.

INT. – THE MEDICAL BAY OF THE TIAMAT – 1700 HOURS 

The quiet hum of engines. We’re on a ship in motion, deep in space. ELIZABETH ZHANG and LIAM OSWIN both sit sullenly in the medical bay of the Tiamat while DR. LAWRENCE GILLAN, age 40, checks them over. 

GILLAN 

Was this necessary? Was it? 

OSWIN 

I had it under control-- 

ZHANG 

We were flying through an ice cloud! Right through an ice cloud! A very avoidable ice cloud! 

OSWIN 

Dr. Mahalanobis wanted samples! 

ZHANG 

A radioactive ice cloud! 

This argument has been going on for a while, and has been going in circles and hitting the same points for just as long. 

OSWIN 

You have to admit that cruising right through the center was pretty impressive, though. It was a long, thin, small target and I sailed clean through. I’m good. 

ZHANG 

In my line of work we call that “extremely easy to go around.” Also, “something to ask the commander about.” Also, “something not to fly through, on purpose.” 

OSWIN 

I knew what I was doing, I did thorough scans, I ran the risks, I knew we’d be fine. And we turned out fine, didn’t we? 

ZHANG 

Did we? 

GILLAN 

Can you two please-- 

ZHANG 

Is spending the next six hours under observation in medbay fine, Lieutenant? 

GILLAN 

It’s mostly a precaution-- 

OSWIN 

I know this ship, I know what she’s capable of. 

GILLAN 

All right, taking your temperature again, under your tongues, now. 

He shoves a thermometer in the face of Oswin, then Zhang, who grumble in protest as they cannot talk through a mouthful of medical-grade glass and mercury. 

GILLAN (cont'd)

Oswin, that was unnecessary and dangerous, regardless of how impressive a flight move it was. But Commander, in fairness, none of us had any idea that space ice could be radioactive. 

Zhang makes muffled objections in protest. 

GILLAN (cont'd)

But it is still something you should have known better to do without consulting somebody, no matter what Dr. Mahalanobis wanted. What do we keep learning about space? 

Zhang and Oswin mumble something in unison. 

GILLAN (cont'd)

That’s right. It keeps finding new, unpredictable, and improbable ways to try to kill you. Space is terrible and dangerous and a bad idea to visit, and the human body was not meant to be here, and it does its best to remind us of that constantly. 

Gillan takes the thermometers out of Zhang’s and Oswin’s mouths and checks them. Zhang and Oswin both give irritated sighs. 

GILLAN (cont'd)

I don’t want either of you to die due to improbable space nonsense. I don’t want anyone to die due to improbable space nonsense. And space nonsense continues to be improbable and also potentially deadly, and I’d really like you to keep that in mind, all right? Oswin? 

OSWIN 

(reluctantly chastened) 

Yes, sir. Or, yes, doc. You know. 

GILLAN 

I do. 

(sigh) 

Six hours’ observation is probably unnecessary. You can both go, and just be sure to check back here in six hours, to be safe. Get some rest and stay off the bridge until we repair the ice damage on the shielding, though. Maybe go watch one of Clark’s films with her. She started pinging me asking when you’ll be out, she’s worried about you two. Though I notice only after she was sure the radiation hadn’t damaged any of her videocassettes, which, if it had, you would be in a lot worse shape right now. 

OSWIN 

(definitely sheepish now) 

Right. I should, uh. Apologize. 

ZHANG 

Just to her? 

OSWIN 

... sorry, Commander. 

(pause) 

It was a pretty cool move, though. 

ZHANG 

Oh, get out. 

Oswin exits the med bay. 

GILLAN 

Why does space keep having to be like this? 

ZHANG 

It’s... constantly exciting, that’s for sure. 

GILLAN 

I had a good post at a nice clinic waiting for me, you know. I was all set to start. I did my time as an army doctor, thought I was ready to finally settle down somewhere quiet and safe and ordinary. No more patching up gangrenous bullet wounds, no more improvising when resupplies failed to come in on time. I could have spent my life as a general practitioner doing physicals and solving problems like broken toes, or asthma, or pinkeye. Not space-ice radiation. Not zero-gravity blindness. My exciting discoveries could have been “you’re out of breath because you never exercise,” not “going to space causes the herpes virus to reactivate in everyone who’s ever had it, and immediately spread through the air to everyone else.” 

ZHANG 

Wait, what? 

GILLAN 

That was not a pleasant discovery! Going to space has just proven to me that people should not be in space. Oh, we should go to Vietnam! No we shouldn’t. Oh I know, we should go to space! No we shouldn’t! I don’t even mean that in a religious way or a political way or a New Age children-of-the-Earth way. I mean that space is just terrible for you. 

ZHANG 

It has its challenges. 

GILLAN 

It does. 

There are a few moments of gentle silence as the ship hums around them. 

ZHANG 

... but you like it, just a little. 

GILLAN 

Being out here in the depths of space, a billion miles from any other humans and weeks away from any possible help, with only the supplies that I brought based on my best guesses of what may happen, and on my toes to jerry-rig a solution if they’re not enough, knowing it’s just me standing between all of your nonsense and an awful freezing death... 

Zhang waits patiently. 

GILLAN (cont'd)

... yeah, it’s thrilling. Out here, these are experiences no one else has ever had. We’re on the cutting edge, all of us, and I’m here to figure out how to keep you alive. 

He shakes his head, trying to be stern, but he lets a small laugh escape. 

GILLAN 

I’m not immune to the awe of something like that. I tried to settle down; look how far I got. Look out universe, here we come, and we’re not going to die, no matter what you throw at us. And maybe it’ll give us a little bit of perspective. 

ZHANG 

It gives me chills, sometimes. Thinking about it. Where we are. 

GILLAN 

How could it not? 

(beat) 

... also, all right, the herpes discovery wasn’t a pleasant one but it was fascinating. 

ZHANG 

Okay, yes, come again, what is that about?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [The herpes thing](https://www.sciencealert.com/herpes-loves-something-about-space-that-s-triggering-flare-ups-in-astronauts) is one of my (least?) favorite random facts about how improbably terrible being in space is.


	4. Fluid Mechanics in Gravity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anthony Tate returns from space.

Houston, 1976.

INT. – MEDICAL RECOVERY ROOM AT JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, HOUSTON, TEXAS – 1000 HOURS

A medical machine softly BEEPS. The sounds of restless fidgeting. A Goddard Futuristics MEDICAL TECHNICIAN, with a clipboard under her arm, offers a glass of water to ANTHONY TATE, age 35. He nods, and reaches out for it, his hand not quite connecting with the glass. He blinks, and tries again, grasping it this time, and takes a sip. He looks at the water curiously, like he’s calculating something in his head, or analyzing how the fluid movement is working.

TECHNICIAN 

Okay, and... the daily checkup battery is done. You can relax. 

TATE 

Hah-ahh, good. Goooood. Good. Tongue still feels weird, sorry. I forgot that tongues have weight. But, no more tests today? There have been so many tests. I don’t think I’ve got any more pee left in me. It’s weird to just... be able to pee into a cup. It goes down, falls right through the air. 

TECHNICIAN 

Mm-hm. Are you still having difficulty re-adjusting to gravity, Mr. Tate? How is that progressing for you? 

TATE 

Oh! Fine. Fine. Terrible, actually, but fine. I didn’t know it was possible for my bones to hurt. 

TECHNICIAN 

You’ve lost bone density and muscle mass during your mission. That’s normal in zero-gravity. 

TATE

Space. Stealing your bones. Amazing how that works. 

He nods again, a little distractedly, looking at her and thinking about her questions, and then holds up his glass to about elbow height and lets go in the air. It falls to the floor with a crash, shattering and spilling water everywhere. TATE and TECHNICIAN both look down at it, Technician in resigned tolerance, Tate in surprise. 

TATE

Oh. Right. 

TECHNICIAN

Your physical coordination still shows some marked deficiencies, but your weight, blood pressure, and blood work all seem to be relatively good, under the circumstances. You’ll recover well and re-acclimate smoothly. 

TATE

Okay. Do I have to, though? 

TECHNICIAN

You... do. There’s gravity here. It’s hard to avoid. Getting used to it again is an important part of post-flight recovery. 

TATE

Okay. But I don’t intend to stay here. 

TECHNICIAN

You’re required to, until our doctors check you out. 

TATE

Not here here. I get that I have to stay here here. Medical, make sure we didn’t pick up any space diseases or space radiation, I’m all for that. I mean here on Earth. I’m going to go back to space, you know. That’s the place to be. One rotation on the Ereshkigal and how could I just return to Earth? I’m doing everything I can to get up there. Told the guys that picked us up to send my résumé back in for another go right away. They definitely didn’t so I did it myself the moment we got settled here. It’s been, what, a week? 

TECHNICIAN

Five days. 

TATE

Five days. The mission director--Richardson? Or Keller? That guy--he must have gotten it by now, got my debrief report on the engineering and structural integrity maintenance throughout the trip, which was perfect, by the way, and got the rundown from the Commander. He knows I’m good out there and I know more than almost anyone else by this point about maintaining and fixing Dingir-class ships. Learned a lot on the job. You would not believe how many exciting weird things can happen in space. And, also crucially, maybe even more crucially, I liked being out there. Pretty sure Dr. Cantor and Dr. Pascal and Officer Bayes, you could not pay them to go back up, which means, hey, there are spots open. And with Goddard’s timescales they like to work on, I doubt they’ll sit around letting the ships gather barnacles here on Earth. Metaphorical barnacles. They’ll send them back out, right? And I want to go with them. There’s no point in getting myself re-acclimated here. It will just make it that much harder to de-re-acclimate back in space. 

TECHNICIAN

I’m sure Mr. Keller saw your application and is keeping it in mind. In the meantime, let’s do some of the post-flight checkup assessments. Question one: do you like having eyes? 

TATE

Um. Is that a threat? 

TECHNICIAN

Just a professional question. How much do you want to keep your eyes, Mr. Tate? 

TATE

Very much, please. 

TECHNICIAN

Zero-gravity clouds your eyesight. You must have noticed. 

TATE

I’ve got glasses. I’ll bring glasses. 

TECHNICIAN

Question two: do you like having bones? 

TATE

They’ve come in handy sometimes, yes. 

TECHNICIAN

That urine whose fluid mechanics in gravity fascinated you so much contains a significant amount of calcium. From your bones. 

TATE

Oh. 

TECHNICIAN

Do you want to piss out all of your bones, Mr. Tate? 

TATE

Well, in zero-g, you don’t need them as much. 

TECHNICIAN

I have a medical degree and can say with confidence that you still need your bones in space. 

TATE

I mean, sure. But not as much. 

TECHNICIAN

You need to let your body learn how to exist in gravity again. 

TATE

I just don’t see why, if I’m going back up there. 

TECHNICIAN

Aside from your basic health? You can’t be sure you will. 

TATE

I’m sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started picturing my fan-cast/faceclaim for Tate - and thus his namesake - as Tony Schalhoub and it's really informed how I write him and conceive of his voice.


	5. Office Hours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Eddie Smith considers his options.

Reno, Nevada, 1977.

INT. – A LECTURE HALL AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA – AFTERNOON

The large room is filled with the ambient MURMURING of undergrads who don’t actually want to be here and mostly want class to just be over. DR. EDDIE SMITH, age 34, raises his voice from the front of the room in a plaintive attempt to recapture their attention. 

SMITH

And before you leave, I just wanted to remind you: there’s an exam on Wednesday. Be ready! I was overall rather disappointed with your last one. None of you give rocks the respect they deserve. Their beauty. Their elegance. Didn’t come through at all. If you learn nothing else from Geology 101 I want you to learn to respect rocks. It's a whole new world out there. Wait--hey, I didn’t-- 

The class is already streaming out of the lecture hall. 

SMITH

\--sure. Class dismissed. 

The sounds of students fade. Smith SIGHS and picks up his books. He walks out of the lecture room and down the hallway. We hear the CLICK of a doorknob turning, the CREAK of a door opening, and a muffled THUMP as Smith drops his books on an already-messy table. Some fist-sized rocks FALL off the table and onto the ground. 

KELLER

Careful. Don’t want to trip on those. 

SMITH

Ahh--! 

MR. KELLER is sitting in a chair to the side of Smith’s desk. He smiles; it’s the sort of smile that wants to pretend it’s friendly, and wants you to know it’s pretending to be friendly but there’s something more dangerous behind it. 

SMITH

Um. My office hours are on Mondays, sorry. 

KELLER

Oh, I’m not here for your office hours, Dr. Smith. Or Eddie? Can I call you Eddie? 

SMITH

Um. 

KELLER

No, I’m not a student, Eddie. 

SMITH

Yeah. Uh. My mistake. You don’t really look like a student, anyway. Who... are you? And why are you in my office? 

KELLER

I’m here because you’re going to get rejected for the tenure-track position again. 

SMITH

(groan) 

Oh. You’re from administration. 

KELLER

(brightly) 

Nope! Not that either. I’m not the one rejecting your application, I’m just passing you a little early warning that it’s going to happen. In fact, I’m here to do the opposite. 

Keller gestures at the chair behind the desk. 

KELLER

Please, feel free to sit down. 

SMITH

It’s... my office... 

He sits down anyway. 

KELLER

As I was saying, Eddie, no, I’m not from administration. I’m here to make you an offer to keep in mind when they reject you for tenure. 

SMITH

Oh. 

(beat) 

Wait, sorry, who are you? 

KELLER

I’m with Goddard Futuristics. You have some experience with us. 

SMITH

Oh! Oh, is this about contracting on another asteroid project? Okay, that makes sense. Although, uh, normally I talk to the person who organizes the asteroid mining part. On the phone. Janet something. You’re not her. 

KELLER

I’m not. 

He holds out his hand to shake. 

KELLER

Arthur Keller, Communications Director. And this isn’t about asteroid mining. 

SMITH

It’s not? 

KELLER

Oh, no, the asteroid mining operations are all smooth sailing right now! We have a geologist and a metallurgist and a chemistry specialist out there keeping it running. Our operation is expanding at an exciting pace. Your advice about mapping and geologic processes and materials in extraterrestrial contexts has come in handy. It’s why you’re on our shortlist! 

SMITH

Oh. That’s good? I think. I wasn’t really... aware of the whole prison-labor part when I was contracting with you. I kinda thought the miners would all be, you know, from those coal-mining communities that have all dried up now that almost no one buys coal anymore. 

KELLER 

We like to diversify. Always trying out new things. Those coal miners, we looked into it! Once renewable energy sources really took off and we started running the economic numbers, we thought that a helpful by-product might be freeing up that workforce to do something a little more useful for us. But it's hard to convince people to leave Earth en masse voluntarily. Especially with everyone spooked about what happened to the Enki, poor things. Coming up with creative alternative solutions is what we do best. Besides, you know how it is with miners!

SMITH

I really don’t. 

KELLER

Always striking. 

SMITH

... 

KELLER

It’s a pun. The point is, the asteroid mining is going great, and you played a part in that. 

SMITH

Is this a complement or a condemnation? 

KELLER

It’s a job offer. 

SMITH

But not to the asteroids. 

KELLER

You’re not a miner. You’re not a company man. You’re an academic. A geologist in the purest sense of the word. You like exploring, don’t you? At least intellectually. You like looking at rocks and imagining their pasts and futures. 

SMITH

I... yes. 

KELLER

Oh, don’t be shy, Eddie, some of your papers have been delightfully speculative! I love some of your ideas about the hypothetical range of planetary and exoplanetary formation processes and asteroids as the remains of pulverized planets. You go so in depth about the types of rocks there can be. Can’t say I read it all, but I appreciate it! It makes me wonder, what could you do if you got to see all those planets and rock clouds and free-floating space asteroids up close and personal? 

SMITH

You do want to send me to space? 

KELLER

We have a few of the good asteroids in our own solar system well-mapped already, and the most materially useful ones staked out--but there’s a whole big universe out there. How many times have you left this office to go see rocks in the wild? 

SMITH

Not recently. I wish. 

KELLER

How would you like to go see the most free-range rocks in existence? 

SMITH

Ethically-sourced free-range rocks? 

KELLER

Untouched by human hands and unseen by human eyes. The Dingir ships are in their second round of launches, and we’re putting geologists on these ones--the last mission was mostly mapping and navigating and ooh-ing and ahh-ing and proving the concept, but this time around, we want to make it worth it. We want to know what’s out there. There are planets around some of those stars, Eddie. More planets than anyone imagined. We want to know more about them. How they got there, what made them, what they’re like, if humans can live on them someday, or get something interesting off them if not. We know what our own planet is made of; are you up for some truly cutting-edge frontier geology? 

Keller looks pointedly around the cluttered little office. 

KELLER

Because, just between you and me, you’re never going to get that here. 

SMITH

No, that sounds... kind of amazing. I miss the summers of my fieldwork days, out on the basin and range--but, I mean, I’m doing important work here, teaching the youth and expanding their horizons and instilling awe in the geologic processes... 

KELLER

Are you? Be honest. 

SMITH

You don’t need to be mean. 

He hesitates. 

SMITH (cont'd) 

Why me? 

KELLER

Why not? You’re a known quantity, you’ve done reliable work, you have vision, you don’t have a future here... and we like to think outside the box. Discover underutilized talent. Utilize it. We pride ourselves on being a forward-thinking company. And we have a history of making very successful choices. Do you really want to stay this frustrated and underappreciated for your whole career? Or do you want to follow the dream of what science is all about? 

(pause) 

Besides, when you discover new things that no one else has seen before, you get to write them up and have a half a dozen papers right there. 

SMITH

Mr. Keller, you make an incredibly compelling point. 

He’s still hesitant, though. 

SMITH (cont'd) 

I really feel good about this job, though. I mean, this time I’ll get that tenure-track position. I have the qualifications, I’m not that “flighty and imaginative,” thanks a lot for that, Carl, and my classes are always... attended, by at least some of the enrolled students. I have a life here. Sort of. It’s a generous offer, Mr. Keller, though. 

KELLER

Understandable! 

He gets up to leave. 

KELLER (cont'd) 

Just wanted to give you something to think about. Good luck with tenure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Of course the real reason Goddard recruits grad students, postdocs, and adjuncts is because you can offer them a truly pitiful pay raise and the promise of any stability at all and they're over the moon about it. Literally. Low investment high reward! Or low investment minimal losses, as it frequently goes.


	6. Blacklisted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monique Grayson loses her job.

Philadelphia, 1977.

INT. – A BAR – EARLY EVENING

We hear the sounds of a small bar in the city. It’s a relatively nice place, subdued. MONIQUE GRAYSON, age 28, is sitting by the window with her friend ABBY. They both have pints of beer.

MONIQUE

They did it. They said they would and the union said that wasn’t legal and they went and did it anyway. 

ABBY

Was it legal? 

MONIQUE

No. But the president wanted to and what the president says is law. As we’ve learned. He can do whatever the hell he wants and no one will bother to stop him, and what he wanted was to fire all eleven thousand of us. And so he did. 

ABBY

(Sympathetic) 

Fuck Nixon. 

MONIQUE 

Cheers to that. 

They clink glasses. It’s a very despondent cheers. 

MONIQUE 

And now we’re all going to get blacklisted by the FAA for this, too. 

ABBY

They can’t do that-- 

MONIQUE 

Again: they’ve proven they can do what they want and it doesn’t matter! It’s not about the law, it’s about punishing us for striking and making sure the next round of controllers never ever get it in their heads to do anything like that again. Can’t stop the American capitalist machine. 

ABBY

Fuck Nixon. 

MONIQUE 

It’s the “never get hired again” that hurts, and they know it. I was good--but man, they tell you that air traffic controllers have an absurdly high attrition rate, and you don’t believe it until you see it. But I made it through, I could put up with the pressure, I was good. But I had the audacity to want a shorter and less psychologically stressful workweek, same as, I repeat, eleven thousand of us did, and for that, FAA will chuck my résumé in the trash for the rest of my life. Who knows who else will too. 

She takes a long swig of her beer, and SIGHS in frustration and anger. 

MONIQUE (cont'd) 

I have a degree in math! I can speak three languages! I uprooted my life to move here! And now I’m twenty-eight and have no job and can’t keep a girlfriend and the president decided to add insult to injury for daring to want anything better. What am I going to do now, Abby? 

ABBY

Well, you could actually come out with us to the disco sometimes now. 

MONIQUE 

(halfhearted) 

Mm. 

It's clear she's not really up for this kind of friendly ribbing. Abby winces and tries again. 

ABBY

You could... finally set up that ham radio project you keep threatening to do? 

MONIQUE 

Hah. 

(Sarcastically,) 

How much do you want to bet that if I tried the FAA would swoop down and say, nope, this violates the terms of your ban too. 

ABBY

I’d be concerned if they could, but I wouldn’t put it past them. 

MONIQUE 

Actually, you know what really added insult to injury today? 

ABBY

Oh, no. There’s more? 

MONIQUE 

We got the notice last night that we’d all been fired and blacklisted. This morning I got a job offer in the mail. Guess who from. 

ABBY

A... union organizer? 

MONIQUE 

Hardly. 

ABBY

DYKETACTICS? 

MONIQUE 

Well, I’d have time to join up with them now if I wanted, I guess. But no. You won’t guess, because it’s so stupid. It was from Goddard Futuristics. 

ABBY

... aren’t they notorious for union-busting? 

MONIQUE 

Yes! Which is why I don’t get it. They’re huge aerospace contractors and manufacturers. I was positive they were involved in trying to get PATCO shut down and all of us either back to work or fired. Honestly, I still think they were involved. This timing is suspicious. We were fired last night and this morning a letter arrives? It was sent before the news broke. 

ABBY

So, what, they knew? 

MONIQUE 

Goddard Futuristics owns half the Republican party and a couple of the Democrats too. They definitely have Nixon in their pocket. I felt like a conspiracy theorist for thinking this before, but, no, I'm sure they were pushing people to stop investigating after that whole Watergate scandal. So I think they were putting pressure on him to do this. 

ABBY

So, what, they could snap up the now-jobless ATCs? 

MONIQUE 

I don’t know. I do know their space program has a weird relationship with the FAA. And everyone knows that they’re seriously expanding it. Their space program, I mean. They’re so excited about the Dingir program’s success-- 

ABBY

Didn't one of those ships get torn apart by a star or something? 

MONIQUE 

Mostly success. Four came back and made them all famous. One getting stuck between binary stars and destroyed by the gravity is gruesome, but isn't going to stop them. They’ve been going full-tilt to get more ships out past the solar system. Talking about even building deep-space stations. So maybe they wanted their pick of ATCs for their space program all to themselves? Or maybe they’re just capitalizing on the opportunity Nixon was gonna hand them anyway. 

ABBY

Well... being an ATC for spaceships does sound pretty cool. 

MONIQUE 

... ugh, okay, it’s true, it does. And it would save me the hassle and the humiliation of job-hunting with this on my record. 

ABBY

Would you be a mission-control type? Or are you going to go to space? 

MONIQUE 

We’ll see, I guess. I should probably actually read that letter, give them a call. Go for an interview--even if I have to fly down to Florida, it’s not like I have any job obligations anymore, is it? 

ABBY

Stick it to Nixon. Spit on his FAA blacklist and go become an astronaut. 

MONIQUE 

(laughs) 

Sure. Might as well give it a shot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The history-knowers among you may be aware that the Air Traffic Controllers strike did not happen in 1977, nor was Nixon still president in 1977. This is my attempt at tracing some of the alternate history of the Wolf verse, because developing coherent alternate histories for works that clearly didn't actually do that is FUN. This was based on an idea that in the Wolf 359 universe, Goddard was already cozy with the politicians and thus put significant pressure on everyone to _not_ press on the whole Watergate issue. Nixon wasn't impeached, won reelection, and oh god I'm a little bit afraid of speaking this into the universe right now. But it positioned basically the entire Republican party into being very beholden to Goddard, which they wanted in order to keep the laws very lax on business regulations, and which got them in a perfect and unique position to get thoroughly entwined with the government and particularly the military by the modern-day Wolfverse.
> 
> The PATCO strike was moved up a few years mostly because I wanted that to be Grayson's backstory, hah. I was thinking 1) this ship needs more women and 2) this ship also needs a communications officer, and wondering about what a communications officer's role would be on a spaceship that's going out into exploratory deep space before they knew about aliens yet, led to wondering what kind of background Goddard might look for. Something aviation-related already, something you need a degree for, that already concerns communication and radios and monitoring positions - ATC made sense. And well I've been doing a lot of historical research about labor strikes and horrible responses to them (if you're interested in union/labor/strike history and want to get radicalized, [Bisbee 17](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7520286/) is a fantastic and fascinating documentary about a mining strike in Arizona), so this immediately came to mind. I figured... well, it's not impossible that it could have gotten bumped up a few years, with the new political history.
> 
> As a communications officer on the Tiamat, I imagine that aside from looking for aliens, which probably wouldn't have been her main job yet, Grayson with her ATC background may have had a significant role in navigation/astrogation - which, if that's part of what Goddard was looking for, could also be the origin of "updating the star charts is the comms officer's job."


	7. Productive Work

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Violet Clark asks for a favor.

Cape Canaveral, 1977.

INT. – GODDARD FUTURISTICS HEADQUARTERS, CAPE CANAVERAL – 1100 HOURS 

MR. KELLER walks down the hall, humming cheerfully. There is a brisk and increasing click of footsteps drawing closer, as DR. VIOLET CLARK, age 41, hurries to catch up with him. 

CLARK 

Oh! There you are. Mr. Keller, sir! 

The sound of footsteps continues as she falls into step next to him. 

KELLER 

... Violet. To what do I owe-- 

CLARK 

I heard you finally authorized a new Tiamat mission. Commander Zhang, Pilot Oswin, everyone heading back out into the deep together. 

KELLER 

Mm. And where, exactly, did you hear this? 

CLARK 

Through the grapevine. 

KELLER 

Interesting. Because I offered the mission to Elizabeth less than an hour ago. 

CLARK 

It was a very short grapevine. 

(beat) 

Liz told me. Immediately. And she said she requested Oswin and Gillan again, which you agreed to, as well as me, which you didn’t. 

KELLER 

You’re a valuable researcher, Violet. I didn’t hire you just to keep shooting you into space, you know. Your Earthside work is where you really shine, and where your contributions are... appreciated. The neurobiology research and development team really stagnated without you during your last rotation. 

CLARK 

We did stagnate quite a bit when I got back and half my colleagues on the mind-body holism project had quit under what I was only ever informed were “mysterious circumstances.” 

KELLER 

Those circumstances certainly were mysterious. 

CLARK 

They were that much of a disappointment? 

KELLER 

Like I said: just not the same without you. 

CLARK 

Doesn’t contribute to a very mentally healthy work environment, sir. 

KELLER 

I always thought pressure sharpened the mind. 

CLARK 

We can... discuss that more in depth later. Do you know how many people in that lab I had to reassure that you weren’t going to fire them, or feed them to a tiger when they weren’t looking? 

KELLER 

Which is why you’re so useful here, Violet. You hold the R&D team together. And didn’t you come up with something just last week that you were so excited about? With, oh, what was it-- 

CLARK 

The biological basis for memory encoding and the potential for neurotherapies that can alter its capacity! It’s true, that’s interesting--but that work will still be there when I get back, won’t it? The guys in the lab, they’re smart too. 

KELLER 

I thought researching the effects of the body on the mind was what you came to Goddard Futuristics for. Remember how well we funded your earlier, more experimental work that no one else would. 

CLARK 

And Emi and Ellie are doing great. 

KELLER 

It just seems like a downgrade to trade this cutting-edge research for playing psych-doctor in space. 

CLARK 

We still barely understand the effects of long-term zero-g on the body, much less the mind. Did you know that your eyesight starts to go, the longer you’re out there? Sense of taste, too. Your body kinetics get realigned, your blood circulation changes--all of the physical effects that influence how we feel and what we think. The mind-body link is stronger than people give it credit for. Humans are holistic beings, hard to break down and understand as granular parts. And from a purely research perspective, mental health and mental processes in space are not only fascinating and deeply tied to my areas of interest, but also... 

KELLER 

Yes? 

CLARK 

Liz and Liam and Lawrence and I, we’re basically a family. Would you split up a family? 

KELLER 

Don’t you have two daughters? Weren’t you just talking about them? 

CLARK 

Oh, Emiliana and little Elizabeth can’t go to space with me, silly, they’re five. 

KELLER

My point exactly. 

CLARK 

(undeterred) 

And Goddard Futuristics is really paving the way in the corporate world, offering top-notch childcare. 

KELLER 

So they’re failed experiments, you mean. 

CLARK 

They are not! They’re my baby girls! 

(beat) 

... but I can’t deny that the whole cloning thing feels a little bit weirder to pursue as a research avenue for the company than I expected it would be. They're my daughters. Yes, I knew they would be, but I didn't realize I'd... 

She's getting too close to admitting real feelings; she knows what a danger that is at Goddard. She shakes herself, brightens up forcefully, and continues, 

CLARK (cont'd) 

In any case, the kind of comparative psych research you're interested in isn't developmental and won't even be relevant until they're at least in their teens. Which I'll really want to be there for, and direct. 

KELLER 

Oh, Violet, you can't keep deserting the expensive research we funded you for just to chase something shiny and new every few years. 

CLARK 

This isn't shiny and new. This is a continuation of my work, just in... a new way. Mind and body under unique pressures--it's an angle I'll never be able to pursue anywhere else. And if I want to be here when Emi and Ellie are of age to run the psychology experiments you contracted that project for, which I do, this might be my last chance. 

KELLER 

Space is that interesting to you? 

CLARK 

People are going to be there more and more, for longer and longer spans. We know about the physical effects but still understand so little about the mental ones. Space is the future and we need to be on the forefront of preparing for life in it. Isn't that the whole point? 

KELLER 

This is going to be one of those long rotations. Nearly two years. 

CLARK 

The last one was fourteen months. I can do another six. And hey--I was good, wasn’t I? Aside from my own work, I made the team better. I came in with mission support experience from my paramedic days in the 60s. Commander Zhang and Lieutenant Oswin, they could barely stand each other when we blasted off, remember? 

KELLER 

Yes. It was rather the surprise when he was the first crewmate she requested for the new rotation. 

CLARK 

You’re welcome. 

KELLER 

It is a record that speaks for itself. 

CLARK 

I know what I’m doing. And I know what I’m asking. And I know I’m good for this crew, and we’re good for this mission, and it's good for your scientific goals, too. Holism. Everything affects everything else. If you want this to go smoothly, you want me there. 

KELLER 

Undeniably. We’ll work something out. For you, Violet. 

CLARK 

Aww, you do care. 

KELLER 

Just as long as you’re doing some sort of productive work up there. Get me an overview of your ongoing projects, and we’ll discuss the details. 

CLARK 

Thank you, sir! I appreciate it! I couldn’t just let Liz take off to space without me. And Oswin would miss our movie nights. Liz would insist she wouldn’t, but I know she would too. 

KELLER 

Your bond with your crewmates is as touching as it is against company best practices. 

CLARK 

(ignoring him) 

By the way, speaking of--if I’m going to do my best work as crew psychological support, well, the movies help immensely. 

KELLER 

Do they. 

CLARK 

They do. Movie nights were the first bonding bridge between Commander Zhang and Lieutenant Oswin, because I swear she’s seen fewer movies than--anyway. The point is, scientifically, they’re a remarkable mental and emotional support. 

KELLER 

Good to know. 

CLARK 

And, you know how Goddard just released an exciting new recording format for video on tapes... it would be in our best scientific interest to test those out in zero-gravity too... 

KELLER 

You want me to equip the Tiamat with VHS players? 

CLARK 

If you would. 

KELLER 

(sighs) 

The things I do for scientific advancement. You’re lucky you’re valuable. 

CLARK 

I remind myself of that every day, sir.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Clark, who hopped universes to be a dubiously-ethical scientist who does morally conflicted clone experiments for a corporation rather than the sort-of-Illuminati, enters the picture! Every Goddard era has its sketchy scientist corps. She's doing her best for the Bigger Picture. And hey it's probably for the best that she gets out of Goddard for a while and makes some friends who are good people and have a starry-eyed goal to explore the cosmos, keep her connected to real people she cares about, so she doesn't quite devolve to "let's turn this guy into a horrifying cyborg for Science" mode this time around. I love her. I accidentally love this crew and I hope you do too.

**Author's Note:**

> Work skin was developed by adapting [this CSS template.](https://johnaugust.com/2004/screenbox)


End file.
